Oratorial scholarship available in Haywood

Haywood County High School students can compete in the a oratorical scholarship program, sponsored by Waynesville American Legion Post 47.

All students, grades 9-12, are eligible to participate. This includes public, parochial, military, private or homeschool students.

The American Legion has sponsored this contest since 1938. It is designed to instill a greater knowledge and appreciation of the U.S. Constitution. Other objectives include the development of leadership skills, ability to think and speak clearly, and the preparation for acceptance of duties, responsibilities, rights and privileges of American citizenship.

Each contestant must give a prepared oration on some phase of the U.S. Constitution, giving emphasis to the duties and obligations of a citizen to the government. Additionally, the contestant must give a short extemporaneous oration on an assigned topic.

On or before Dec. 17, each participating school must have conducted a contest, if necessary, to ensure only one contestant will represent their school.

American Legion Post 47 can sponsor only one candidate to represent Haywood County. Therefore, if more than one school has a candidate, Post 47 will conduct a contest to select one candidate to represent Haywood County. The winner will compete at district. The district winner will compete at division, and the division winner will compete at state. The state winner will compete nationally in Indianapolis. Winners qualify for college scholarships.

Interested students at Tuscola or Pisgah high schools should contact their counselor for details. All other students should contact American Legion Post 47 Service Officer, Ron Rookstool, at 926.6090.

The Naturalist's Corner

Friends and followers of “The Naturalist’s Corner” know I’m keeping a year-list of birds I see/hear this year. As I wrote in an earlier column, “I was just curious about how many different species of birds I normally run into throughout the year.” And I have a great core of birding activities that provide a good nucleus for a list including Christmas Bird Count, George Ellison’s Great Smoky Mountains Birding Expedition, my annual point count contract with the Forest Service and other opportunities such as leading a trip for the Franklin Bird Club, generally leading birding trips during the annual Wildflower Pilgrimage (which, regrettably, I missed this year due to a scheduling conflict with spring break) and an annual summer trip to Isle of Palms. The Isle of Palms trip is the one I was counting on for a list boost.